Man, it has been a day. All was going pretty good at first: Keana got off to school happy and on time, and even though Maia had a sore throat, she insisted on going to school too. Cousin Olivia was over this morning playing with Aliya, and while each of them had separate falls that brought them to tears, they had an excellent morning playing with each other and being, as Sarah puts it, “turkeys”.

Maia, Aliya, and Sarah headed off to a cranial sacral appointment for Maia in the afternoon, and not long after they left, Sarah called and said the school called her and Keana had hit her head. It was a little unclear what exactly happened—she was conscious and wasn’t bleeding—but I needed to deal with it since Sarah was busy. So I called the school and talked to Keana and they said she had a pretty good-sized knot on her forehead. I explained we only have one car and I didn’t have it, so it would take me about 20 minutes to walk there (Keana’s school is 1.2 miles from our house). The office lady said that was fine, so I headed out. Nothing like walking to get an injured child from school in 100 degree heat.

They were right, the knot on Keana’s head was huge. Apparently she was playing tag and running for “safe” (a tree), tripped on the root and nailed her forehead at the hairline, square against the trunk. Yeah, ouch. I made sure she could see, wasn’t dizzy, didn’t feel sick, etc. and we headed out, on foot, back into the 100 degrees.

It was a good walk, considering the circumstances, and I carried her for a block here and there. I was a little worried about her overdoing it in the heat with that kind of lump on her head.

Then, I cooked a horrible dinner. I mean, it was edible, but the meat was tough (honestly, a rarity for me), the greens were burned, and it just generally sucked. Sarah had something to go to, so I got the kids ready for bed on my own. It was at this point I realized I had worn my shirt inside out most of the day, tag sticking out on the back of the neck and everything. Awesome…had to laugh though. I finally wrangled Keana and Aliya in bed, and Maia’s nose started running and she can not deal. I tried everything I could think of and finally had to just sit in the room with her and work on the laptop until she fell asleep. Phew.

I had just enough time to catch the bottom if the 9th inning of the Giants’ game against the Astros, when Maia started crying out. It’s 8:30 and I had been dealing with bed time for about two hours at this point. Oy. Sarah arrived though and got Maia back to sleep, only to have her wake up again at 9:54. Poor thing doesn’t feel good and I had to catch myself trying to analyze the problem and go down “a list” to solve it. I know that won’t work, but it’s a go-to “dad thing” of mine that I’m trying to quit. Once again Sarah had to step in and be the gentle care-giver.

It’s quiet now but I know that doesn’t mean shit with sick/injured little ones. I’m really focusing on having no fear and no hope (or expectations) for the night (and beyond). It’s just been one of those days and writing it out here has made it all a little better and put me back in alignment.